The Truth Hidden In Our Memories
by AurumChevalier
Summary: Sequel to Your World Never Ends. After Kaito died on the moon following his duel with Misael, he is allowed to participate in the Reaper's Game a second time. There, he finds the truth about him and the lies he's been living in. I do not own The World Ends With You or Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal. They belong to their respective owners.
1. Day 1

Kaito stood in the middle of an intersection in an unknown city, examining his surroundings. Unlike the other Players, Kaito could defend himself alone. Suddenly, Neku ran into him and knocked him to the ground.

After Kaito got up, Neku said, "I've been looking everywhere for you. You know what we need to do." Kaito nodded and they made a pact again.

Once the lights faded, Neku said, "Today's mission is to reach the statue of Hachiko."

Kaito started to panic. "If you're asking me for directions, we're screwed. I have no idea where in the world we are."

Neku chuckled a little bit before saying, "Don't worry about it. This is my hometown, so I know it as well as the back of my hand."

"You should have told me that before I started freaking out."

"Maybe you should have let me finish first."

"Whatever, just lead the way."

"By the way, I'm curious. How did you die? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Remember the guy with the long hair that tried to kill us on the seventh day?"

"It's kind of hard to forget the people that are trying to kill you, but continue on."

"Well, I got into a duel with him on the moon."

"The moon? It's no wonder why you died."

"I was adequately protected when I got there."

"So that means you lost and died, right? Though, it's kind of hard imagining you losing."

"Wrong, who said I lost? I won, but Orbital couldn't keep it together anymore, so I ended up dying because of a vacuum."

"As in the cleaner? I can see it now. The great Kaito was defeated by a vacuum cleaner."

"When I said vacuum, I meant an area where there is nothing inside, so I basically ended up suffocating to death."

"That sounds like a terrible way to die."

"Back then, it didn't matter if I died, as long as there was a chance of saving the future."

"I'd like to pretend I'm interested in what you're saying, but we need to start the mission."

They managed to make their way towards the dog statue, but there was a horde of Noise in their way. It wasn't hard, but very time consuming. They finished the first mission in the last ten seconds.

Neku sensed something was off because Kaito wasn't as fierce as he used to be. He asked, "Is everything alright? You seem to be a little on edge. If you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

Kaito paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know what to think anymore."

"If it's about the Game, you been through this before. Don't worry about Haruto, I'm sure he'll be very well taken care of."

"Haruto is not my entry fee this time."

"Sorry. I just assumed from last time."

"It's alright, even I was surprised about my entry fee."

"What happened? You seem to have changed."

"How would you feel if you found out most of your life had been a lie?"

Neku thought about it and remained silent.

Kaito thought about the moment his entry fee was taken.

_He was standing in front of Joshua, the Composer. Joshua told him, "Your entry fee from the last Game was not what you truly held dear. The most important thing to you is something that you aren't even aware of."_

_This just confused him. He said, "That doesn't make any sense. How am I supposed to treasure something if I don't even know about it?"_

"_Your mind will not remember, but it has always been in your heart."_

"_Stop speaking in riddles. Will I be allowed to join the game or not?"_

"_Very well then, if you are so impatient, I will comply. There is something you should know. Your entry fee is the sense of security you felt with the false memories you had."_

_He suddenly experienced a headache that felt like his head was going to split apart._

Day 1: Resurrection

Author's Note: There are going to be some gaps in this story. Some will be answered if you read Synchronic Sacrifice, a story in the Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds and Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal crossover section.


	2. Day 2

When Kaito and Neku woke up, they were standing in the station underpass. Neku said, "I found the answer to your question. Even if the entire world was a lie, I would still live my life to the fullest extent. 'Enjoy the moment.' That was what I learned."

Kaito looked at him for a moment before saying, "I guess you're right, but it still doesn't help."

"If you want to talk about it, I can listen, or at least pretend to."

"I don't want to, at least not yet. There are many things that still aren't clear to me."

"Okay, but I'm here if you want to talk."

"I know." Kaito looked at the Platinum Pin he won in the previous Game and inadvertently called out Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon.

Neku stared at Kaito with the confused expression before he said,"We haven't even gotten the mission yet. Why did you summon your alternate Psych?"

"I didn't. It just suddenly came out on its own accord."

There was a voice in Kaito's head. He spaced out for a moment. _It is time for you to learn the truth. You have a destiny greater than you realize. There will be trials ahead of you._

Neku waved his hand in front of Kaito's face for a few minutes before getting a response. When he got the response, Neku said, "It's alive!"

Kaito blinked a few times before saying, "You're not Frankenstein. Also, did you hear that voice?"

"You're hallucinating. I think you need more sleep, unless you're on something."

"I'm not doing drugs! That was strange. The voice felt like it was coming from-" Kaito quickly turned around looked at Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon.

_The gifts you have are beginning to manifest. With time, they will all be clear to you._

Neku stood there with his eyes wide and mouth gaping. When he stopped staring, he said, "Okay, I definitely think I'm hearing voices as well, unless someone secretly spiked whatever I was eating."

Kaito snickered a little bit before he said, "See, I told you; I wasn't lying." He turned towards Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. "Sorry for everything I forced you through. I was asked to take care of you, but I ended up using you as a pawn."

_You did not remember. I was the one entrusted to protect you, but I couldn't do anything to prevent your memories from being manipulated._

"Did my mother ask you to?"

_She did. I owe her and her dragon my life. If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't be here today. One day, I had hoped to return the favor, but she had died before I could do anything. The best way now is to protect her son with everything I've got._

"Thank you. I appreciate the effort."

_If you need my help, feel free to ask. You don't have to concentrate anymore, for we are connected by thoughts._ Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon disappeared.

Neku silently muttered to himself, "It's like I'm not even there." After Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon left, Neku said, "What am I, chopped liver?"

Kaito poked Neku stomach area and said, "I think this is where your liver is. There isn't any lacerations, so I don't think your liver is chopped."

"I was being sarcastic."

"What's up with you? I ignore you for a minute and you get angry with me."

"I'm worried about you, but you don't seem to trust me enough to tell me anything. We're partners. Trust is the base for our survival."

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't want to get you involved."

"I'm already involved anyway, so there is nothing to lose."

"My mother entrusted Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon to protect me. She gave everything to protect me. I didn't know it was a spirit though."

"It makes sense now, I guess. I always wondered how in the world it could speak, but your explanation clears it up."

"I have a question for you. Why are you in the Game again?"

"Josh wanted me to investigate another case. It has to do with-... The mission is here. It says, 'Survive the barrage of Noise in the Udagawa district'. I'll finish my story later. Follow me, I know where we need to go."

They raced to the graffiti wall mural in Udagawa. There was an even larger army of Noise than the one they encounter the day before. Several other Players were erased before their eyes. Their strategy for defeating the Noise was different than the other Players.

The main problem were the large Noises. They paid more attention to the large Noise and erasing those first before moving on to the small ones. Other Players would erase whatever Noise was in front of them, so that gave a chance for the large Noise to ambush them.

Neku and Kaito survived the assault that lasted over an hour. At the end, they were completely exhausted.

Kaito, struggling to catch his breath, said, "I hope we don't have to go through this again. We won't last very long if we have to expend all of our energy everyday."

Panting in between words, Neku said, "Creating Noise also creates strain on the Reapers, so they probably won't do an all out attack like that again in the near future. Maybe on the seventh day."

"You didn't answer me. What did Joshua send you to investigate?"

"I'm supposed to track down and capture, if not, erase, a Fallen Angel."

Day 2: A Mother's Gift


	3. Day 3

Neku and Kaito were standing in the Scramble Crossing again. Kaito asked, "What is a Fallen Angel? You mentioned it yesterday."

Looking up from his phone, Neku replied, "A Fallen Angel is a criminal that breaks the Angel's code, whatever that means."

"Joshua sent you to capture a criminal? That seems a bit beneath you."

"If I don't do what he says, I'm dead. I hate to admit this, but he is the one that brought me back to life."

Feeling as though he needed to change the subject, Kaito asked, "Why are you helping me with the Game, instead of doing your job?"

"Multitasking. Josh is tracking him down. My job is to deal with him. So while I'm waiting for him to be done, I'll help you."

"So, I'm just keeping you entertained until you do your job?"

"Yeah, pretty much." 

"So much for thinking you actually cared."

Neku felt he needed to change the subject because further discussions were probably going to strain their relationship. "Every time I see you, you're dressed in tights. Why is that? I thought you got over it last time?"

"These clothes are the only ones that can withstand the beating I go through most of the time. The others fell to pieces after the first duel."

"Why don't you just get new durable clothes?"

"I have a large closet filled with these same ones and it costs a lot to make different ones. Yeah, I can be pretty cheap at times."

"Since the mission isn't here yet, we are getting you new pants. I am not going to be your partner any more if you keep wearing tights."

The two made their way to the 104 building; where they ran into Eiji Ouji, the prince of Ennui. Neku thought, _We had better get out of here quick. Mr. Spicy-Tuna-Roll is probably going to give another one of his speeches on fashion and trends._ As they tried to leave the building, Eiji Ouji stopped Kaito.

Neku thought Kaito was going to be criticised for his tights, but was surprised when the prince asked, "Where did you get that outfit? F it. F for fabulous."

The girls behind him were whispering, "OMG, the prince, like, totally F'ed his outfit. The prince only F's the things he really likes. Where can we get those?"

Kaito was annoyed at the attention he was getting and wanted to end it as quickly as possible. "This was custom made."

Before Eiji Ouji left, he said, "That's a shame. It is a mystery how such an unfashionable person can be associated with someone who is a master on the trends."

After the prince left, Kaito gave Neku a smug smile and said, "I think you're the only person who has a problem with my tights, Mr. Critic."

Neku just shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter. I'm still holding up my conditions. You won't be my partner unless you ditch those tights."

Kaito knew Neku was just joking, but he didn't want things to get more strained between them. He complied and replaced his tights with white skinny jeans. Once they were outside, Neku said, "Those jeans are not an improvement. You look the same as you did before."

"That's the point. I met your conditions. These are not tights. You didn't say I had to look different."

Neku raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, have it your way. Just keep in mind, one of these days, they are all going to be burned in a heap."

"You won't even get past the front door."

"As much as I would like to continue talking about your fashion atrocities, the mission is here."

"They are not atrocities and you're worse off than I am, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you."

"Just drop it. The mission's here. It says, 'Complete the ramen challenge in Dogenzaka. You have 2 hours. Also, Player count is now 2.' Yesterday's mission did a number on the Players."

When they got to their destination, they found a flyer advertising the ramen challenge taking place at Shadow Ramen. As soon as Neku walked through the door, the owner said, "Oh, it's you again."

Kaito leaned over and whispered, "What did you do to piss the owner off?"

Neku shrugged and said, "I didn't do anything. He just thinks that I'm hitting on him every time I go in here."

"Why would he think that? I mean, this is a restaurant, so people would go in and out often."

"I think he is mentally unstable. There are several occasions that prove it."

"This entire city is crazy. I think everybody here has some type of mental issue."

"Likewise with yours. Everybody there just plays card games. Let's drop the topic for now. We need to finish the mission."

In order to complete the ramen challenge, the competitors must finish five extra large bowls of ramen, including the broth, within one hour. Kaito and Neku stared at each other; there was no way they could each eat five bowls of ramen in one sitting.

Both of them left the restaurant for a little while to formulate a plan. Kaito suggested, "Maybe we should look for Noise and feed the ramen to them when the owner isn't looking. People can't see Noise, so it should work."

Neku gave Kaito a weird look and said, "You might be onto something, but Noise can't easily be controlled. People can't see us when we are outside … I got it. We'll split the amount of ramen we have to eat. One of us will be outside while the other stands near the door. To everybody else, it'll look like one person is eating all of that ramen while it is actually two."

"That's a great idea. We need to get started. There's about an hour and a half left on the timer."

They finished everything with ten minutes to spare: Neku ate three bowls while Kaito ate two. When they left the restaurant, Neku said, "I feel like I'm going to explode. Now I know how a fat person feels. What the heck was up with today's mission? The Game Master must be trying to kill us by force feeding."

Kaito tried to help and suggested, "You should take some laxatives or throw it up, if it's making you feel miserable. Eating too much isn't good for you."

"People only do that if they're bulimic and I'm not. Besides, I didn't say I was miserable."

"Then stop complaining about it."

Suddenly, a crow flew by and dropped something into Neku's hair. Neku tried to get it out of his hair and screamed, "Get it off! Get it off! I hate bird poop."

A few black feathers came out of his hair. Kaito picked them up and laughed. "I never knew you were afraid of getting pooped on."

Neku tried to pretend he didn't overreact, but he ended up looking like he was about to have a panic attack. "Birds freak me out. They can poop on you or peck your eyes out. Besides, crows are scary. Why do you think there are always crows in front of haunted houses?"

"I'm making a mental note to keep crows in front of my house. My uncle used to tell me, 'Crows and street rats are stronger than those pampered city pets.' I didn't remember it until now."

Day 3: Blackwing Feathers


	4. Day 4

Neku and Kaito stood at the Scramble Crossing again. Kaito asked, jokingly, "Have you gotten over yesterday's crows yet?"

Since Neku was on the phone, he didn't hear Kaito. When he got off it, he said, "Joshua tracked the Fallen Angel to the Station Underpass. We need to go there immediately."

"What about the mission?"

"The Game is just a cover. This takes more importance. I'll explain on the way."

As they sprinted towards the Station Underpass, Neku explained, between breaths, "The Fallen Angel want to the destroy the UG to 'protect' it from the Composer. If the UG is destroyed, the RG goes with it. They are interconnected and support each other. Since we don't know what he will do next, he is considered a dangerous criminal. This Game is our cover to make him think we're not on to his plans. I know this week's Game Master and he only takes orders from the Composer right now. He would've gotten promoted a long time ago if he wasn't so lazy."

When they got to the Station Underpass, they saw Mr. Hanekoma standing in front of the entrance to the Shibuya River. Kaito became confused and whispered, "Isn't that the guy who was the owner of that café you brought me to? I thought you trusted him?"

"That's not the same person I know. The person in front of us is Hanekoma, but he's from a different parallel world; the one I know is at the Higher Plane, trying to sort this problem out."

"So that's the problem. It's not going to get in my way because I've gone far to fall back now."

"If we defeat him, the Game will end, since we no longer need a cover. You're the only dead player left, so you'll be brought back to life."

"Then let's get this over with." The Hanekoma in front of them changed into his noise form; a tiger and a lion.

"I call lion. You're stuck with the tiger." Neku disappeared into the other Zone.

Kaito was stuck having to avoid the tiger's attacks and injure it when he had the chance, which wasn't very often. He quietly muttered, "Thanks for leaving me with the hard one."

It took a while before they managed to bring its health down to a small segment. In a desperate attempt, it drew both forms into the Zone Kaito was in. He was unprepared for this and would have been seriously injured by its attack if Photon Thrasher hadn't suddenly appeared and taken the brunt of the attack.

Seeing that it's attack failed, it disappeared. Neku appeared as quickly as he could and said, "I saw what happened. Are you alright?"

Kaito accepted Neku's outstretched hand and pulled himself up. "I'm fine, thanks to it." He pointed towards the Photon Thrasher that had appeared,

"Did you do that?"

"I'm not sure." Then he noticed one of his cards was on the ground; it was Photon Thrasher. "Don't tell me." He pulled out Daybreaker from his deck and it suddenly appeared in front of him. When he returned the cards back to his deck, the apparitions disappeared.

"How did you learn to do that?"

"I don't know. Unless- " He trailed off and was lost in his thoughts.

Neku waited a little while before slapping Kaito back into reality, literally and very hard. "You seem really depressed lately. Have you ever considered getting yourself a girlfriend?"

"What the heck was that for?"

"That was for slacking off when I'm around. Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my Partner."

"No, I meant the part about getting a girlfriend."

"I know some things about your life."

"That explains the unknown person going through my trash and following me everyday."

"You have a stalker? Whoever it is, it's not me."

"I was trying a hand at being sarcastic."

"So you do have the capability to show some wit."

"Just because I don't smile a lot doesn't mean I don't have any humor."

"Seeing how you reacted when I mentioned getting a girlfriend, you must not lean that way. But hey, I'm not judging. I'd hate to break this to you though, but I'm not available."

"Why do I even bother talking to you?"

"Because I'm the only person who can hear you."

"Whatever. We're dropping this subject."

"Jeez. You don't have to get so defensive about it."

"Where's duct tape when you need it? I think this ability is the result of being the child of two Signers. Galaxy Eyes did mention it. The power resembles the ability of the Psychic Duelists."

"Okay. I'm going to pretend I understood what the heck you just said."

"You don't need to understand. All you have to know is that I think I can control it."

"You're uncertainty is not very assuring, but we need that power because we're going to need it. The Hanekoma from another dimension is still on the loose. We're going to be fighting him again soon."

"Yeah." Kaito heard the stories about Psychic Duelist and how society rejects them, even in this era. They weren't common; the last reported case was over ten years ago. He thought, _Just when I was coming to terms with my situation, the world just forces something else into my life._

Day 4: Psychic Duelist


	5. Day 5

While waiting for the mission at the tag mural in Udagawa, Neku asked, "What happened on the first last week? You had a lot of problems doing anything physical, but then you were completely different afterwards. Have you secretly been taking steroids?"

Kaito gave Neku a questioning look and said, "You always think that I'm on something. What is up with that?"

"I'm just going by logical explanations. There aren't any others that I can come up with."

"Fine… My body was still repairing itself after I almost destroyed it, but it got better."

"What did you? Get yourself stuck on a landmine?"

"No. I was forcing it to endure multiple Transformations and it started to break down. With that amount of damage, it was a miracle I could still stand."

"Great, so I was paired up with a handicapped person? Just my luck."

"I was going through the recovery period at that time. By the second day, I was already better. That's why I was like that on the first day. Normally, I'm above average in physical activity."

"That's good to hear. The mission's here. It says, 'Win the Partners Cooking Challenge in Spain Hill. Time is unlimited.' I hope you know how to cook because I certainly can't."

"It mentions partners, so you have to participate as well. Can you at least do the basics?"

"I tried to boil water for ramen once. The kettle ended up exploding and the kitchen was on fire."

Kaito stared at him with his mouth open. "How is that even possible?"

Neku just shrugged. "How would I know? I think I ran out of water and used ice cubes."

"Whatever, just lead the way. I'll think of something on the way."

They ran the entire way there because it was unknown when the contest was going to start. Near the area, they were grateful the competition would be held inside, as they would be invisible outside. As soon as they entered the building, one of the registrars immediately recognized them by their Player Pins and gave them a place among the other competitors.

There were two stovetops, so Neku and Kaito could work independently from each other. As the competition started, Kaito gave Neku some ingredients and told him to make omelettes, then walked to the other stove.

Neku stood there staring at the eggs for around five minutes. He placed several eggs inside a pot (without even breaking the egg shells) and poured enough oil to drown the entire thing and threw in several handfuls of salt and pepper. Afterwards, he turned the flame on to maximum power, and ten minutes later, all of the eggs exploded.

Kaito turned around at the noise and returned back to whatever he was doing after he found out Neku was responsible. Neku didn't know what to do next, so he grabbed the exploded eggs from the pot with tongs and put them on a plate. All of the eggshells were no longer on the eggs because they became tiny missiles in the explosion.

Not having any clue on the next step, Neku decided to improvise. He put a carrot, tomato, onion, and orange in the oven and ended up charring the outside. The items were placed inside a blender and blended to a pulp. It became a rather nasty shade of brown, but Neku didn't care; he dumped the glop on top of the eggs.

As the competition was winding down to the final minutes, Kaito went over to see how Neku was doing. After seeing the completely unappetizing plate of "food", Kaito wanted to throw it out, it was too late. The competition ended and all of the food were given to the judges on stage.

When it was their turn (they somehow ended up last), they brought up hot chocolate, fried rice, and some brown blob thing. None of the judges seemed eager to try the last item. Kaito covered his face with his hands and Neku put his hands in his pocket when the bravest of the three judges decided to taste it. After a few seconds of deliberation, the judge said, "I have never tasted anything like this before. Despite its looks, the taste is delicious."

The other judges started to taste the blob and their reactions were the same as the first one. It was a unanimous decision for Kaito and Neku to win.

As people were cleaning up, Kaito said, "I never expected you to come up with something like this. Though I am curious about how this tastes." He took a spoon and put whatever Neku made into his mouth. The moment it went in, he resisted the urge to throw it back up right then and there. Instead, he ran to the nearest trash can and tried to spit it out as discreetly as possible. When he recovered, he took the plate and buried it at the bottom of the trash can.

Neku had an amused look on his face. "Don't say anything until we get outside. If it makes you feel any better, all of the judges are still in the bathroom with diarrhea, though they ran in about ten minutes ago. Also, it's thanks to this that we won." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and showed Kaito the Player Pin he was holding.

Right after they were awarded for winning the contest, Kaito dragged Neku outside and said, "What were you trying to do?"

Neku shrugged, "Just doing whatever it takes to win."

"Did you even listen to the instructions I gave you?"

"What instructions?"

"I told you to crack five eggs and add half a tomato, half an onion, a pinch of salt and pepper, quarter of a cup of cilantro, and half a bell pepper. Fry the mixture, put it on a plate, and garnish with orange slices."

"Whoops. I guess I kind of wasn't paying attention. The music I was listening to was pretty good though."

"Next time, you're probably going to make the kitchen explode."

"Thank you. I'll be sure to put you in there when it does."

"As if that's possible, I'll be at your funeral before that ever happens. After all, you make everything you touch explode." Laughing, Kaito thought, _Maybe, life is about strengthening the bonds we share with other people and trying to get to know them better._

Day 5: Bonds


	6. Day 6

Kaito and Neku were both staring wide-eyed at the mission mail. It said, "Get a 90 or better on the karaoke results. Time is unlimited."

Neku was the first one to speak up. "Do you have any musical abilities at all?"

Kaito started to whistle. "That's pretty much about the best I can do."

"Great, just great. When things just couldn't get any worse, it becomes a nightmare. Since I can't sing, I'm guessing you probably can't as well-"

"Look, just because you can't do something doesn't mean other people can't as well."

"That's not why I said that. Our vocal abilities are the same because we sound completely identical to each other."

"Yeah right. You're just making an excuse."

"You didn't realize that? If you don't believe me, then I'll prove it to you. Listen to my voice and then listen to your own."

"Why are we even discussing this?"

"Just listen!"

"I am listen-" Kaito became silent for a moment; he realized what Neku said was true. "How did this happen?"

"Coincidence, most likely. Or, you're my counterpart in another universe."

"Can we stop talking about this? There are more pressing matters to discuss."

"Like how in the world are we going to complete this mission."

"Exactly. We can't do what we did on the Ramen Challenge."

Neku and Kaito stood there quietly, thinking of ways to meet the challenge. Kaito broke the silence. "I can't think of any solutions. We should just go there and wing it."

"You're right; I can't think of anything either," replied Neku. "There's only one place that specializes in karaoke, so it shouldn't be that hard to find it."

Since there was no time limit, they both took their time walking to their destination. Once they got there, the greeter immediately lead them to a private room.

Neku was the first to start off. He chose a hip-hop song. His score was a 37.

Kaito went up next and he sang a lullaby. His score was slightly better than Neku's, a 41.

After several more attempts at singing, their score only improved by a few numbers.

Neku gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Let's just face it. We're never going to finish this mission. Both of us suck at singing."

"Neku, don't be so quick to give up," said a voice in the doorway. It was Joshua, smiling at them. "No need to worry, Joshua is here."

"Right, nothing is impossible for Joshua," said Neku, rolling his eyes.

"Seeing that you're my dear Proxy, I can't let you lose the Game now."

Neku muttered to himself, "As if you really cared." He faced Joshua and asked, "How exactly are you going to do that?"

"Easy, I'll be the one singing."

To Kaito, Neku quietly whispered, "He thinks too highly of himself. The results of this song will probably jolt him back into reality."

At the end of the song, Joshua's score was a 64. Afterwards, Joshua said, "That was quite unexpected, but it's just a warm up. This is the real product."

The next song ended in the same way. Neku commented, "Joshua, if it makes you feel any better, you sounded like a strangled parrot."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Yes Neku, that helped so much. Thanks for comparing my voice to the screech of a dying animal."

"Just trying to make a point. It isn't as easy as it looks."

"Fine, point taken. You guys are still screwed if you can't complete this mission though."

"We already know that. You're the Composer, do something about it."

"Fine… I think I have just the solution. Kaito, start singing."

Kaito had a shocked expression on his face. "Wait, why me?"

"Because you're the only person not participating in this discussion. Just do it already."

Near the end of the song, Joshua snapped his fingers. The score ended up being 93.

Neku raised an eyebrow at Joshua, but Joshua just shrugged his shoulders. Kaito questioned Joshua, "I still sounded terrible, so nothing happened to it. What did you do to the score?"

"Oh, nothing much." Joshua gave both of them a flippant look. "I just manipulated the way the score was displayed, but your mission should be completed by now."

On his phone, Neku received a text message with the words, "Congratulation, you passed today's mission".

Joshua waved to them on the way out. "Don't expect to save you every time you're in trouble. I actually have a life, you know. Hate to break this to you, but you guys will always suck at singing."

When Joshua finally left, Neku said, "I wish he would stop being so arrogant most of the time."

Kaito stared at Neku disapprovingly. "You should at least show a little gratitude. He did help us out there."

"Yeah, the only reason he cares is because I'm his tool."

"Actually, that's not the reason. He still feels guilty about your last incident and wants to help out."

"How do you know that?"

"I… don't know… exactly. It just popped into my head."

"Hmm… What is your opinion of me?"

"You now act distant from most people because you're afraid of opening yourself to others. Before, you just blocked people out with your headphones. Getting to know people is a different experience for you, so you're afraid to open up because you don't know what the result would be."

"I… hate to admit… this, but… you're… right. My guess is that you have a rare ability to understand people."

"Is that even possible?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but that's what it looks like to me."

"Well, it might be useful in dealing with people like Joshua."

"That would give him a surprise."

"No doubt that it would." Kaito thought, _Maybe I could use this ability to help other people. This could resolve conflicts by understanding people's needs. Though, is it really that easy to understand people? Usually, people build walls around themselves to prevent them from opening up to others. Can I really slip past that wall?_

Day 6: Another Power


	7. Day 7

Neku looked at his phone; the mission had already arrived. "Subdue the Fallen Angel, if unable to, then Erase him. Last known location was the Station Underpass. Time limit is three hours or until he decides to destroy the city." A timer appeared on Kaito and Neku's hand

Kaito looked at the message and said, "Today's mission might be a little easier than the previous days. Though, the destruction of the city part doesn't sound so appealing."

"I think that's his way of saying hurry. Anyway, we better start running, slowpoke." They immediately ran towards the place mentioned in the text message.

Once they arrived, they found the Fallen Angel still standing there. He turned towards them and said, "My last plan failed because of you. To make sure that doesn't happen again, I need to dispose of you."

Neku warned Kaito, "Be careful and brace yourself. He's probably gotten stronger after our last encounter." The Fallen Angel transformed into his Noise form.

Kaito shouted to Neku, "Call dibs on the lion, so you're stuck with the tiger. This is payback for the first time. Good luck; you're going to need it." He disappeared to the other Zone.

The lion kept charging and kicking at Kaito. He got behind it and blasted it with his most powerful Psychs until it was about to turn on him. Before it could injure him, he evaded all of its attacks and waited until he could damage it again.

Neku had more difficulty with the tiger. It created clones of itself to build up its defenses and sent its shadow to attack. He dodged its attacks and slowly tore down its defenses. The process was slow, but he did manage to make some progress.

After a fierce battle, the Fallen Angel attempted to run away. Kaito called forth Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon and attacked the Fallen Angel with Photon Stream of Destruction. The blast created a giant crater and sent a large amount of debris into the air.

When the smoke cleared and a figure emerged, Kaito thought the Fallen Angel survived the attack and was about to send another blast, but Neku stopped him in time. Neku told him, "You managed to subdue the Fallen Angel, though I think you nuked him into oblivion. Anyway, that's Mr. Hanekoma, so I don't think you should blast him just yet."

Kaito was still not convinced. "How do you know that? They both look identical to each other."

Neku held up the palm of his hand. "The timer disappeared, which means we finished the mission. Since stopping him was the mission, we successfully survived the week."

"And am I ever glad that's over."

"You do realize that, since you erased him, you'll be stuck with the thought that you killed him?"

"Not really, but you're the one that's supposed to be giving emotional support."

"What, why me? You don't show any sign of guilt after killing a person."

"Well technically, I didn't killed him; I erased him. Also, it's kind of hard to acknowledge him as dead when someone who looks identical to him is still alive."

"You know what? I not going to even bother talking to you anymore."

"Today is the last day, so you don't have to."

Mr. Hanekoma smiled at the both of them and said, "I'm very grateful that you decided to not turn me into Shibuya space dust. Though, I must congratulate you for clearing up that misunderstanding with the Higher Plane. So, thanks for helping me out. Think Joshua's ready for you guys now."

Kaito and Neku disappeared in a warm light and appeared before Joshua. Smiling, Joshua told them, "I'm glad you guys could make it to the party, but I wouldn't have started without you."

Neku chuckled and said, "It's a sad party if there are only three people attending."

"Good point, so let's get down to business. Neku, I'll change your frequency, so that you can exit the UG and enter the RG." Neku's form began to flicker, but then stabilized after a few seconds.

Looking at Kaito critically, Joshua frowned and then said, "You, on the other hand, have a lot of work that needed to be done. Since your original body was destroyed and floating around somewhere in space, you need a new one. Thankfully, since I'm so great, I managed to create another body for you during this week using data from an old prototype. Let's see how it works."

For Kaito, it felt extremely unpleasant. His entire body was tingling and occasionally pain would flare from an area in his body. After ten minutes, all of the sensations faded away and he stood in his own body once again.

Joshua said, "Well, that went better than expected. I was thinking it might be rejected because of the minor adjustments I made to it." He handed Kaito a pile of black clothes. "These should conceal your presence when you return to your own city. Since you recovered your powers, you now have an aura around you that is easy to detect."

In the pile, it consisted of boots, gloves, pants, and a long coat. The coat had and went all the way down to his ankles; the fabric was unlike anything he ever felt before. As he got dressed, he couldn't help but ask Joshua, "How did you get a coat like this?"

"Well, if you want to be technical, I just found it when it happened to be lying of the floor."

"So basically, you stole it from someone."

"Not necessarily, it used to belong to a Nobody, before he ceased to exist. I just happened to pick it up after that happened."

"I'm wearing something that was worn by a dead person? Also, don't disrespect the dead."

"Nobodies aren't alive to begin with, but he didn't need it anymore, so why not? It's not like you have any other choice. I forgot to mention it protects you from darkness when travelling between worlds. Seems pretty useful to me."

"Fine, I'll keep it, but I might regret it later."

Neku stepped into the conversation. "Kaito, if it makes you feel better, you look better wearing that than your old tights. Which reminds me, I need to go burn them before you get back."

Kaito announced to the both of them, "That's not my name, not anymore. I remember my true identity. My name is Kai Atlas, son of Jack Atlas."

Joshua cracked a smile. "It's a good thing you remembered everything. That reminds me, I need to do something about your entry fee. Since I can't or even want to take those memories, I've come up with a brilliant idea. At that moment when you died, I'll restore the memories of all the people who were involved. To congratulate you for remembering, this is yours." He handed Kai a black belt with a pouch hanging off of it. "Your deck is inside."

Kai pulled out Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon and said, "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me after I remember everything."

"Glad you appreciate all of my hard work, unlike" ahem " a certain lazy person in the room I could mention. With that settled, I have one more issue I'd like to deal with."

"What would that be? I mean, you already did everything you could."

"It's not very important, but I thought I should mention it. Since I can send you back into any world, it is possible to send you back in time as well."

"How is that possible? Time travel isn't possible, not without consequences."

"I know that; I am a genius after all. It isn't time travel because you're not actually going back in time. In different worlds, people make different decisions, which has effects they're not aware off. For example, a decision to wake up late one day could make all the events that were supposed to happen delayed by an entire month. So, it's not time travel, just entering an almost identical world where everything happens a little later."

"If you could return me about a week before I died, I would really appreciate it."

"Alright, I'll do it, but you have to give me a reason why. If you're trying to keep yourself from dying, it's not going to work. This is a different world, so it's not actually you."

"I know that and I'm not after something so petty. Well, if I knew then what I know now, I could prevent people from suffering needlessly."

"Somehow, I knew you'd say that. Well, it might take a while because I have to look for a world that. Feel free to wait around until I'm done."

Kai pulled Neku aside, keeping his voice down, so Joshua couldn't hear. "You should be a little kinder towards him; he's helped you a lot. Even though he acts like a completely arrogant jerk, he has feelings as well. I know you can't forgive him after he killed you, but he feels guilty about it, even though he doesn't show it. You don't feel like opening up to people after that, but maybe you should talk to each other. It would help both of you."

Neku just stared at his feet. "What are you now, my psychiatrist?"

"I know you're afraid of being lied to again, but that isn't going to get you anywhere. Life is about taking risks. Who cares if you mess up the first time? Dying showed me that life is only worth living when you open up to. You should know that better than anyone, since you also died and competed in the Game multiple times."

"… Just leave me alone. Don't give me advice on how I should live my life."

"You trusted me. Have I ever let you down before?"

"How about every day when we were together."

"Can you try to be serious for once in your life?"

"… I'll give it a try."

Joshua yelled at Kai, "I'm ready. You can leave whenever you want. Just step through the portal and it'll take you there."

Before he left, Kai asked Joshua, "When you said you made some minor adjustments, what did you mean?"

A large grin appeared on Joshua's face. Neku commented, "It always creeps me out when he has a smile like that on his face."

Joshua stopped grinning and said, "Oh come on Neku. I have to have fun some times. Well, referring to the minor adjustments, I just made your physical capabilities extremely higher than normal, but their still within the human standards."

"It would have been useful to know that beforehand. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not knowing is the fun part. I'm sure you'll figure them out."

"I get the feeling I'm going to explode one of these days."

"You shouldn't doubt my abilities."

Kai walked in front of the portal and turned back to look them before he stepped through it. Joshua stood with his arms crossed, but a reassuring smile was on his face. Neku tried to blend in with the background, but he gave up and just ended up waving goodbye.

"There's no place like home," whispered Kai under his breath. He disappeared through the portal.

Day 7: Burning Soul

_Author's Note: The sequel to this story is Master of Synchros, a Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds and Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal crossover._


End file.
